For the first time ever, China’s Communist Party is openly questioning its legitimacy

[Hiptullha]

This week, China’s ruling Communist Party invited more than 80 political figures and academics from around the world to Beijing to attend a meeting called The Party and World Dialogue 2015. Addressing the theme of “disciplining the party,” Chinese officials consulted foreign experts on combatting corruption—an uphill battle for President Xi Jinping since he took power in 2012.





But a top Communist Party official also took the unusual step of proclaiming publicly that the party rules over China legitimately. Wang Qishan, head of China’s top anti-graft watchdog, said on Wednesday (Sept. 9) when he met foreign attendees including former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd and former South African president Thabo Mbeki that “the legitimacy of the ruling Party lies in history, its popular base and the mandate of the people.”





The state news agency Xinhua reported Wang’s talk as follows:





Wang said the legitimacy of the ruling Party lies in history, its popular base and the mandate of the people. He said in the course of building a comfortable life and rejuvenating the nation, the CPC [Communist Party of China] has to enhance its leadership and win the trust and confidence of the people so as to address complex situations and overcome various challenges.





Wang’s talk could be dismissed as empty as any other diplomatic rhetoric, except that is reportedly the first time that the word “legitimacy” appears in the Party’s official disclosure—and the implications of that are being widely, publicly discussed in China.





The meeting is the first of its kind held by the CPC since its 18th national congress in 2012. Wang, is technically ranked sixth in the CPC’s seven-member Politburo Standing Committee, but his role as the head of the anti-corruption campaign makes him much more important than that— some argue he’s the second most powerful man in China after Xi Jinping.





After Wang’s speech, the Chinese internet is abuzz with uncensored discussions of whether the party does in fact have a “legitimate” right to rule citizens who did not get to choose these leaders. Even more unexpectedly, an article (link in Chinese) analyzing what his use of the word “legitimacy” could mean has been widely circulated on China’s Internet—and been republished by major news portals and state-own media—after it was first posted on messaging app WeChat on Sept. 10.





The article, from a WeChat account run by the People’s Daily newspaper, the Party’s leading mouthpiece,explains that former Chinese leaders have never talked about the legitimacy of the ruling Party explicitly before—though they haven’t been avoiding the question, it adds, as the idea was implanted in Chinese socialism.





So why is the Party raising the word “legitimacy” now? The article explains that China is again returned to the center of the world stage, and it needs to change the way that it acts:





The CPC has transferred from a revolutionary party to a ruling party through struggles and sacrifices for over twenty years. [If the Party]… does not prevent or overcome the crisis of its ruling legitimacy, but only indulges in the old thinking that “whoever conquers the world will be able to rule the world,” then it is possible that it will repeat the Soviet Union’s tragedy.





The People’s Daily is almost always the leading mouthpiece of the Communist Party’s policies and ideology. After social media like Sina Weibo and WeChat went popular, the newspaper used its accounts on those platforms to communicate with the people in a more approachable way then they did in print. The fact that the article has been widely re-posted on other media outlets also shows its significance.





It has a chilling conclusion about the reason for Wang’s talk. “To raise the question of the legitimacy of the ruling implies a deep sense of crisis,” that article ends.

For the first time ever, China’s Communist Party is openly questioning its legitimacy - Quartz

 

[empirefighter]

The legitimacy of CPC never become a "question" in China. No Chinese even think of this "question",because it is meaningless.

 

[JSCh]

The Xinhua article mentioned:

BEIJING, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- Members of the Communist Party of China (CPC) must observe the "superior line" of core values and never cross the "bottom line" of party discipline, China's top discipline inspector Wang Qishan said here Wednesday.

Wang, head of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, said strict discipline of the Party requires observation of both the "superior line," which incorporates the core values of ideals, faith and tenets to serve the people, and the "bottom line," or regulations of the Party.

In a meeting with more than 60 overseas attendees at The Party and World Dialogue 2015 in the Great Hall of the People, Wang said Party members should adhere to the "superior line" and never be allowed to cross the "bottom line." He said the Party regulations and rules should be put in first place so that members will promptly be warned of minor misconduct and immediately disciplined for major wrongdoing.

Wang said the legitimacy of the ruling Party lies in history, its popular base and the mandate of the people. He said in the course of building a comfortable life and rejuvenating the nation, the CPC has to enhance its leadership and win the trust and confidence of the people so as to address complex situations and overcome various challenges.

Wang said the party's leadership is indispensable in exploring the development of socialism with Chinese characteristics. He said in order to realize the commitment the ruling party has made to the people, it has to rule the party with strict discipline.

 

[S10]

No government has inherent legitimacy. They obtain it by ruling wisely and advancing the interest of the country and its people. When it ceases to do that, then they must go. That was how Qing dynasty was overthrown, and that was the same reason KMT got booted off.

 

[badguy2000]

West medias obviously misunderstand what Wang Qishan said.

If west reporters were able to wirte/read Chinese ,just as Chinese usually can write/read english,they would not write such Bull$hit report.

However, west medias are full of such reporters ,who even can not read the road/WC signatures in CHina, but are eager to tell people what China is like.

 

[Raphael]

West medias obviously misunderstand what Wang Qishan said.

If west reporters were able to wirte/read Chinese ,just as Chinese usually can write/read english,they would not write such Bull$hit report.

However, west medias are full of such reporters ,who even can not read the road/WC signatures in CHina, but are eager to tell people what China is like.

Agreed. The comprehension errors are so obvious I thought it was written by some clueless expat with no language ability and who is incapable of understanding China. And yet it was written by a Chinese with a pinyin name who must have known WQS' real message, but intentionally misconstrued and distorted it so he could propagandize for Western media. Some people are just that shameless.

 

[FairAndUnbiased]

Agreed. The comprehension errors are so obvious I thought it was written by some clueless expat with no language ability and who is incapable of understanding China. And yet it was written by a Chinese with a pinyin name who must have known WQS' real message, but intentionally misconstrued and distorted it so he could propagandize for Western media. Some people are just that shameless.

There was a poet in the US, Chou Yi-fen, who just won an award in literature.

Only problem: he was actually a white dude from Indiana named Michael Derrick Hudson.

Don't be surprised if this "Huang Zheping" is "Henry Chester Pollard" or something.

 

[terranMarine]

There was a poet in the US, Chou Yi-fen, who just won an award in literature.

Only problem: he was actually a white dude from Indiana named Michael Derrick Hudson.

Don't be surprised if this "Huang Zheping" is "Henry Chester Pollard" or something.

now white dudes starting to create Chinese name for pseudonym?

 

[Bussard Ramjet]

There was a poet in the US, Chou Yi-fen, who just won an award in literature.

Only problem: he was actually a white dude from Indiana named Michael Derrick Hudson.

Don't be surprised if this "Huang Zheping" is "Henry Chester Pollard" or something.

I know the person, Huang Zheping. He is legit.

And you would be surprised to see just how many Chinese are completely against CCP etc. Most of the western newspapers and media bodies are full of Chinese, that write against CCP, and many times even Chinese core interests.

Zheping Huang 黃喆平 (@pingroma) | Twitter

Here he is.

 

[Raphael]

I know the person, Huang Zheping. He is legit.

And you would be surprised to see just how many Chinese are completely against CCP etc. Most of the western newspapers and media bodies are full of Chinese, that write against CCP, and many times even Chinese core interests.

Here he is.

In the Qing Dynasty and Republican eras, there were plenty of Chinese who thought the national government was illegitimate and Chinese (and Asians in general) are not capable of governing themselves, but should live under 'benevolent' foreign rule instead. Wang Jingwei is the most obvious example. At least those people had the excuse that the central government really was incompetent in those times. The brainwashed traitors you refer to today have no such excuse.

 

[Azizam]

I like the system of CCP if it is enforced properly. Legitimacy for rule comes from merit rather than popularity as in democracy but the problem is it is wonderful as long as it works properly but if it does not, there is no guarantee that it can change since there is no room for opposing views. But on the contrary, democracy is entirely based on appealing to the majority which creates a cycle of corruption in the system where each contestant has to find money for his/her election campaign and then somehow find a way to repay the debts once he/she is in power. Then they misuse the powers they have to engage in corruption to pay past debts, for future campaigns and for personal use. It's for this reason I think developing countries are not suitable for democracy. The best example can be found by comparing India and China. Both were impoverished and ravaged by problems in the past but one emerged as the 2nd biggest economy and has a GDP per capita above 7000USD while the other is still stuck in poverty and ravaged by corruption with no end in sight.

 

[ChineseTiger1986]

The western banker was the biggest creditor for the KMT party, but after the KMT party was overthrown, CPC had denied all the loan and debt from KMT, so everything became the bad debt for the western banker.

That's why they started the Korean War, the reason to start that war was not to aim at Korea, but at China. Still, CPC had pushed the them back to the corner and did not accept any unfair treaty.

Of course, for them, CPC is indeed illegal, and they are planning to put KMT back to power, all the wealth that the Chinese people have accumulated for the last 66 years would be paid over as the debt.

KMT is willing to help the western banker to loot the Chinese people for another time.

@Chinese-Dragon

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

The western banker was the biggest creditor for the KMT party, but after the KMT party was overthrown, CPC had denied all the loan and debt from KMT, so everything became the bad debt for the western banker.

That's why they started the Korean War, the reason to start that war was not to aim at Korea, but at China. Still, CPC had pushed the them back to the corner and did not accept any unfair treaty.

Of course, for them, CPC is indeed illegal, and they are planning to put KMT back to power, all the wealth that the Chinese people have accumulated for the last 66 years would be paid over as the debt.

KMT is willing to help the western banker to loot the Chinese people for another time.

@Chinese-Dragon

Geopolitics is all about relative power.

The CPC is making China more powerful, that's why China's enemies all prefer the KMT.

 

[ChineseTiger1986]

Geopolitics is all about relative power.

The CPC is making China more powerful, that's why China's enemies all prefer the KMT.

A military unification with Taiwan seems to be imminent, the KMT traitors and the Taiwanese separatists all need to be permanently destroyed.

The Korean War had granted China decades of peace, but now it has been fading away from our enemies' memory, so maybe it is the time to send another warning.

 

[badguy2000]

The western banker was the biggest creditor for the KMT party, but after the KMT party was overthrown, CPC had denied all the loan and debt from KMT, so everything became the bad debt for the western banker.

That's why they started the Korean War, the reason to start that war was not to aim at Korea, but at China. Still, CPC had pushed the them back to the corner and did not accept any unfair treaty.

Of course, for them, CPC is indeed illegal, and they are planning to put KMT back to power, all the wealth that the Chinese people have accumulated for the last 66 years would be paid over as the debt.

KMT is willing to help the western banker to loot the Chinese people for another time.

@Chinese-Dragon

PRC sent troop into korea,because it wanted to prove it is a royal ally to CCCP, in order to win soviet's support. as PRC succeeded to push yankees back to Soul, soviet assured that PRC was a valuable ally and gifted PRC 156 maga industry projects in 1950s. The 156 gifted maga industry projects transformed china forever……before they were finished,china was a country without industry backbone and even could not produce enough rifles to resist japanese invadion. After that,PRC not only could produce tank,cannon and jets ,but also could produce nukes. Frankly speaking,it was because the 156 maga industry projects could supply china enough tank,cannon,jet and other weapons that china could asskick India so easily in 1962. In fact before the 156 maga industry projects india had a larger industry base than china.